Robert Earl Keen
What I Really Mean

On his previous studio recording Farm Fresh Onions, Robert Earl Keen
attempted to capture the rough and rowdy edginess of his concerts. The outing
proved not only to be a hit-and-miss affair, but also to signal the possibility
that perhaps he had lost his way. Indeed, the sturdy, cinematic lyricism that
typically has marked his finest efforts was missing almost entirely from the
collection, and the subsequent issuance of Live from Austin, TX, which
featured his full-length performance on Austin City Limits, offered an
acknowledgment that maybe he had failed entirely in his mission. In recording
his 12th album What I Really Mean, the Texas-born songwriter
once again turned to his stellar touring band for support, but the end result is
vastly different. On a crunchy cover of Jimmy Driftwood’s Long Chain, for
example, Keen relays the energy of his stage persona better than anything on
either of his preceding pair of projects, while the jazz-tinged title track puts
forth a wistful examination of the impact that his chosen profession has had
upon his marriage. Elsewhere, he delves into the suicidal strains of The Dark
Side of the World with all the boozy swagger of the Rolling Stones; paints a
surreal, honky-tonk-colored depiction of Hank Williams on the aptly titled The Great Hank; and laces the allegorical, country-rock narrative Mr.
Wolf and Mamabear with a worldly rhythmic groove. That Keen was able to
bounce back so readily from what undeniably was the low point of his career in
order to craft the superlative reflections of What I Really Mean is a
true testament to his highly underrated skill at crafting country music
concoctions that draw as much from the genre’s classic lineage as they do from
its modern-day, alternative disposition.

What I Really Mean is available
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